E-Home Entertainment and Rubber Duck Games want you to think twice about choosing the path of a glorified hero. Instead, they want you to enjoy the mischievous evil nature of a fallen villain ark, thirsty for revenge. But, let’s not forget to throw in some fart jokes along the way. This is Evil Wizard and it is providing players with a comical journey of revenge and wastes no time throwing you in the muck of the battle. There are a lot of entertaining elements to the writing including many pop culture references and 4th-wall-breaking narratives. This 2D ARPG-lite delivers exactly what it sets out to accomplish and stacks some laughs along the way.

Story

The story is fairly straightforward. You play as a “defeated final boss” that is hell-bent on getting revenge on the hero and the army that helped take him down. The Evil Wizard has lost his precious castle to the knights and “good” wizards that have taken it over. He is royally pissed off that he has to start from the bottom of his castle, re-recruit a few of his minions along the way,  and work his way up to the top in order to regain control. All in the name of gaining sweet succulent revenge on the goodie that took him out.

The game does a great job of showcasing that “other side” of a story we are all too familiar with, all while taking things on a more comical approach. The Evil Wizard has plenty to complain about during his journey of revitalizing the evilness of the castle and there are many references to all forms of media; popular movies and games appear as easter eggs throughout the journey. The Wizard is not alone in his triumphant quest, recruiting some allies along the way that can not wait for his return to power.

I really enjoyed the writing in this game and felt that the added bit of 4th-wall-breaking adlibs kept the game feeling campy and lighthearted even when the going gets tough. You never know what to expect when traversing the castle, whether you will be ambushed by a horde of knights or maybe just sit down with them and watch a movie, bickering about its plot. Either way, both end in bloodshed.

Gameplay

Evil Wizard is a 2D action-adventure game with light ARPG elements. There is an inventory system to utilize different weapons and capes that can be found on your revenge-filled adventure. Swords slice through knights in quick succession and magic spells can be cast by your evil wizard wand causing elemental damage. The melee combat system has a dodge mechanic that is necessary to master. Hitting enemies do not stun their attack animations so dodging is essential to survival.

Spell attacks are useful for providing extra damage to tough opponents and some have an area of effect that is handy for a crowd of enemies. Some of these spells are either useful at range or close quarters. Unfortunately, you can not freely change spells unless you find that element somewhere in your castle. Generators give off electricity and torches provide the fire element, but the game does a good job of providing a variety of sources throughout the castle's levels.

Slashing, spell casting, and dodging make up the basis of Evil Wizard’s combat system. Some enemies are weak against certain spells while others may be more resistant to some, which does add a layer of strategy to the combat but ultimately it is a very simple system to learn. However, even with its easily accessible combat system, the game is still challenging! Some enemies deal out a massive amount of damage when performing certain attacks and healing is dependent on battle circumstances. Combining elemental attacks is the key to massive damage output. For example, electrical spells mixed with rain, or fire spells used on ice-wielding wizards will almost certainly cause instant death to grunts and expel massive amounts of damage to larger enemies. 

Heals are provided when finishing off an enemy with an execution, which initiates a different animation for each enemy in the game. This will allow you to collect health as well as currency to spend on your adventure. The timing window to perform these executions is limited and you are almost completely vulnerable when performing these animations so your timing has to be just right, especially if you are trying to heal yourself around a horde of enemies.

The adventure aspect of this 2D ARPG is filled with exploration and some backtracking. You may find a key or a spell that can be used in a previously explored area to unlock new items or to progress the story. I really enjoyed exploring the castle but at times it did feel a bit linear when it came to progression. Even though there are various rooms that can be explored, all with their own elemental theme, you still have to unlock certain key items or spells to advance. This might be a given to some players but I think it’s worth mentioning that the game has an open feel, but stick with that metroidvania style of progression.

There are also multiple rubber ducks scattered throughout the castle that belongs to your dear friend Rubito. Finding all of the rubber ducks is a feat in itself but I found myself actively searching for them. The rubber ducks are based on various video game and movie characters and feel like digital Pop! Figures. The developers clearly wrote a love letter to all of their favorite pop culture influences by sprinkling as much of it as they could into the narrative of Evil Wizard, which makes it more enjoyable.

Oh, and you can pet the dog too!

Audio and Visual

The cartoony and 2D art style is a welcome choice for this type of game and it suits the theme. It is essentially a spoof on the typical hero trope that we have all played, dating back to the SNES. So it only makes sense to give this game that aesthetic to remind you that this isn’t the typical castle adventure that you remember when you were a kid.

Although there is voice acting, it is not present for all lines in the game. When you begin chatting with the various NPCs in the castle, there will always be some audio said, but the entire conversation is not spoken. Instead, it is a scroll of text and speech bubbles that you have to read through. This doesn’t dampen the humor of the game but having fully voiced lines would have bumped it up a notch. Especially since the voice actors involved did a great job at portraying their characters in the limited scenes that they do speak. A slightly missed opportunity but I will take some voice-acting over none any day.

Replayability

Evil Wizard doesn’t provide much in replayability considering its linear structure. I don’t see myself picking it up for another go, but I do recommend the playthrough. I would have loved to see a boss rush mode or maybe a timer implemented into a second playthrough for those eager to complete the game in record time. Anything to add to the longevity of the game, but maybe there is hope for a patch later down the line. The game is planning on releasing for Nintendo Switch in the near future, so hopefully, something will be implemented by then.

What It Could Have Done Better

My gripes with Evil Wizard are limited but I feel it is worth mentioning. The combat is good but it does feel like it gets a bit stoic mid-way through. Even with the variety of spells and weapons available, I would have loved to see a counter option implemented into the game as opposed to just dodging. In any combat-centric game, I feel should reward players for timing a perfect block, especially since it feels like the enemies eat your attacks without being stunned. It's not a big deal in the early part of the game, but it becomes longed for when facing multiple enemies at once. Some may say it is to increase the challenge but I feel like it’s a missed opportunity.

Verdict

Evil Wizard is a fun, light-hearted 2D adventure that isn’t afraid to break the 4th wall and provide some comic relief. It tells the other side of a story that we are all familiar with but does so in a hilarious style that is thoroughly enjoyed. The combat mechanics are good enough to get you through the end of the narrative but once you’ve completed your quest, you will probably have the desire of evilness in your heart fulfilled and contempt.
Evil Wizard launches on May 25 for PC via Steam. It will be launching on Nintendo Switch at a later date.